1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to force transducer measuring devices and more particularly to a force transducer used in a manipulator system providing six degrees of freedom.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In recent years, there have been proposed computer controlled manipulators to perform mechanical assembly work. In such proposed systems, one of the common problems is that of determining the orientation of the object held in the manipulator hand. Such proposed systems involve complex moving parts, difficult replacement of the transducer elements, and some systems do not provide six degree of freedom sensing. Also, the transducer devices presently available either provide a limited degree of sensing, such as tension and compression forces only, or involve complex apparatus which cannot be readily assembled or replaced. Also, the system equations in resolving the six degree of freedom force and movement vectors for the known transducers are complex and, therefore, difficult to handle by a real time computer control system where the computation time is very limited.